Decorated Aussie soldier charged with war crimes

SYDNEY (AFP) — One of Australia’s most-decorated soldiers, former Special Air Service officer Ben Roberts-Smith, was charged Tuesday with murdering unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan, police said, following a long-running war crimes investigation.

Roberts-Smith, 47, was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2011 for his actions fighting Taliban forces. Police said he is accused of being complicit in a series of unlawful killings between 2009 and 2012.

“It will be alleged the victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said. “They were detained, unarmed, and under the control of ADF members when they were killed,” referring to the Australian Defence Force.

Court documents list five counts of “war crime — murder,” including one actual offense, one joint commission, and three counts of aiding or abetting. If convicted, Roberts-Smith faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Once celebrated nationally and internationally, Roberts-Smith faced scrutiny in 2018 after reports alleged he had ordered or participated in the killing of unarmed Afghan prisoners, including kicking a civilian off a cliff and using a victim’s prosthetic limb as a drinking vessel.

He has denied the allegations and previously sued The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald for defamation. A 2023 ruling found many of the journalists’ claims “substantially true.”